Article aligning means



April 29, 1958 R. FERGUSON ETAL ARTICLE ALIGNING MEANS Filed Jan. 17. 1,955

IN VEN TORS V.- W E N S W R 0 0 RH BF A Lo 6 SM w H G Mm W v United iS ateflt Ofiice 2,832,458 Patented Apr. 29, 1958 ARTICLE ALIGNIN G MEANS Richard Ferguson and James L. Brown, Charlotte, N. C., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Deering Milliken Research Corporation, near Pendleton, S. C., a corporation of Delaware Application January 17, 1955, Serial No. 4 232,077 12 Claims. (Cl. 198--33) This invention relates to mechanisms for handling quill-shaped article of the type employing an elongated trough-shaped receptacle mounted at an angle to the horizontal and within which the articles are transported upwardly in single-file alignment and more particularly the invention relates to improved means for retarding the upward movement of misaligned articles and for promoting their proper alignment.

It is frequently necessary that quill-shaped articles, as illustrated by bobbins for use in loom shuttles, bolts and other articles having an elongated barrel portion with a relatively short head on one end thereof, be disposed in single-file alignment for various reasons and one mechanism suitable for accomplishing such alignment comprises an inclined, trough-shaped receptacle having a lengthwise slot and conveyor means located in the bottom thereof. The conveyor means is generally such that it is adapted to engage opposite sides of the heads of quill-shaped articles while allowing the barrel portion to hang downwardly through the slot provided for this purpose. Unfortunately, erly aligned articles being carried upwardly in the receptacle alongside properly aligned articles and it is necessary that means he provided for retarding the upward movement of such articles and for promoting their proper alignment.

Prior to this invention, means for retarding the movement by the conveyor means of misaligned articles in apparatus such as described above has generally comprised one or more rotating members adapted to literally sweep the misaligned articles within the trough to thereby promote their proper alignment, or some similar arrangement. Such means have not been entirely satisfactory in that they frequently tend to retard the movement of properly aligned articles and if the articles are quills having trailing yarn ends, the yarn tends to become wrapped around the rotating members and thereby imaair their proper operation. In addition, the use ofrotating members requires driving means with gears, pulleys or the like which results in a mechanism more complicated than is desirable.

It is an object of this invention to provide means for promoting the alignment of misaligned articles which is extremely simple in design and construction and which employs no moving parts.

It is a further object of the invention to provide means for promoting the alignment of misaligned articles which means does not interfere or retard the upward movement of properly aligned articles being carried upwardly within the receptacle by the conveyor means.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide means for promoting the alignment of misaligned articles which means operates by the novel procedure of raising one end of a misaligned quill-shaped article until it is turned over endwise toward the lower end of the inclined receptacle.

It is still another object of the invention to provide such a device frequently results in impropmeans which can readily be employed with quills having trailing yarn ends.

The above as well as other objects of the invention are accomplished by mounting within the receptacle at least one and preferably one or more opposed pairs of stationary members in each instance having a surface inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of the receptacle and adapted to engage one end of a misaligned article being conveyed upwardly alongside properly aligned articles and raise the one end to the extent necessary to turn the misaligned article over endwise toward the lower end of the receptacle. The invention will hereafter he described with particular reference to quills but it will be understood that the invention is readily adaptable for use with other articles of the same general shape.

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate one preferred embodiment of the invention and in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section taken at right angles to the longitudinal axis of an inclined receptacle and illustrating article aligning means according to this invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical cross-section taken along the line. 2-2 in Figure 1.

With reference to the drawings in greater detail, there is illustrated a trough-shaped receptacle 10, inclined at an angle to the horizontal of preferable from about 25 to 40. The receptacle 10 comprises one essential element of the aligning apparatus and is adapted to receive a supply of quills at the lower end and transport them in single file alignment to the upper end where they are transferred to a slide member generally indicated by the reference numeral 12 before being fed to a quill stripper or the like, not illustrated.

The trough-shaped receptacle V-shaped and as having a pair of sides 14 and 15 substantially at right angles to each other. Each of the sides 14 and 15 has an upper plate section 16 and a lower plate section 17 attached to the upper section, in each instance, in overlapping arrangement. The lower sections 17 extend beyond the upper sections 16 in a direction towards the bottom of the trough so as to provide a longitudinally extending recess on either side of the trough. The two lower sections 17 also have downwardly extending portions 18 which are spaced apart to thereby provide a longitudinally extending slot 19 in the bottom of the receptacle which is of the proper dimensions to accommodate the barrel portions of a plurality of quills generally indicated by the reference numeral 20.

a The bottom of the trough-shaped receptacle 10 is provided with conveyor means illustrated as comprising the upper reaches of a pair of endless belts 21 and 22. The upper reaches of the belts 21 and 22 run adjacent opposite sides of slot 19 and are positioned in the recesses resulting from the overlapping arrangement of the upper and lower sections of sides 14 and 15, so that the upper faces of the belts are substantially flush with the inner surface of the receptacle 10. As a result of this arrangement, the opposite sides of the heads of bobbins 20 having their barrel portions extending into slot 19 are supported by the belts and thereby transported to the upper end of the receptacle 1!).

Mounted within and for adjustment toward and away from the bottom of the receptacle 10 on opposite sides thereof is a pair of plates 24 and 26 which constitute a part of the aligning mechanism'of this invention and which extend downwardly in each instance over the upper edges of the conveyor belts 21 and 22. The lower ends of the plates 24 and 26 are preferably rounded as indicated at 27 in Figure 2 of the drawings so that if a yarn end is drawn underneath the plate bythe conveyor meanspthe angle of the leading edge is such that the 10 is illustrated as being yarn end will be forced toward the space between the belts as the yarn goes in the direction of belt travel. The upper edges of the lower ends of plates 24 and 26 are also preferably beveled so that there will be no shoulder against which one end of a bobbin might become lodged.

Mounted on the plates 24 and 26 are two pairs of deflector members indicated by the reference numerals 28, 29, 30 and 31. Deflector members 28 to 31 are held in position by any suitable means such as bolts 32 extending through slot like apertures 33 in the respective members, similarly shaped apertures in plates 24 and 26 respectively, and making threadwise engagement with the respective plates 16. This arrangement of structure permits ready adjustment of the deflector members 28 to 31 and their support plates 24 and 26 in directions toward and away from the bottom of the receptacle 10 so that they can be positioned at the point of most effective operation and so that articles with different sizes can be accommodated.

The lower pointed tip of each of the deflector members 28 to 31 may be positioned to extend below the lower edge of plate 24 or 26 in which position it overlies one or the other of the conveyor belts but is spaced from the belt a distance equal to the thickness of plate 24 or 26 so that the point of the deflector member does not wear against the conveyor belt. Normally, however, the lower pointed tips of members 28 to 31 will be positioned to approximately coincide with the lower edges of plates 24 and 26 so that the tips will not present protrusions on which yarn ends might hang or against which bobbins might become lodged.

Each of the deflector members 28 to 31 presents a substantially triangular surface obliquely facing the entrance end of the receptacle 10 with the leading edge of the triangular face flush against one or the other of plates 24 and 26. The trailing edges of the triangular faces of the members 28 to 31 are in each instance provided with aflange, indicated by the reference numerals 34, 35, 36 and 37, which extends at substantially right angles from the triangular surface and thereby forms an upwardly extending groove adapted to engage one end of a misaligned quill being carried upwardly alongside properly aligned quills as illustrated at 38 in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings. The members 28 to 31 are preferably so formed that the grooves along their trailing edges are inclined to slope outwardly from the center of the receptacle 10 at an angle of from about to 35 whereby the end of a quill riding upwardly in one of the grooves is thrown away from the center of the receptacle toward one wall thereof. The members 28 to 31 should also be so constructed that the grooves along the trailing edges are at an angle of from 0 to 25 in either direction from a vertical plane at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the receptacle 10. If the conveyor means is normally operated at a rate such that the movement of the quills upwardly in the receptacle is very slow, it will be necessary that the members 28 to 31 be so constructed that at least the upper sections of the grooves along the trailing edges thereof slant rearwardly toward the entrance end of the receptacle in order that the quills be turned completely over endwise, but if the conveyor means normally operates at a rate such that the movement of the quills is very rapid, the grooves may actually slant toward the exit end of the trough since the inertia of the one end of a quill being carried upwardly in the groove will be sufficient to carrythe quills past an upended position so that it is turned over endwise toward the lower end of the receptacle.

A further consideration is that, if the grooves in the trailing edges of members 28 to 31 are not curved, the angles between the longitudinal axis of the grooves and the longitudinal axis of the receptacle, measured in each instance, from the face of the groove toward the lower end of the receptacle, should generally be a large as is 4 a possible with the selected conveyor speed and articles being conveyed,'since as this angle becomes smaller, the vertical component of the force exerted upon the one end of a misaligned quill in contact with the plate becomes smaller until at an angle of the plates act only as stops and no longer tend to lift one end of the misaligned quill. As a general rule it is preferred that this angle be at least about When aligning means according to this invention is to be employed with a slow speed conveyor at an angle of less than 15 to the horizontal so that plates having a straight groove at an angle of at least 105 to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor might not result in the quills being turned over endwise in the desired manner, it is frequently advantageous to employ plates with curved grooves so that a line tangent to any selected one of the grooves in the area where the quills initially contact the same is at an angle greater than 105 to the longitudinal axis of the trough. The upper sections of the grooves can then be at much smaller angles to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

In operation, a relatively continuous supply of quills or the like is fed to the lower end of receptacle 10 by any suitable means, not illustrated. Due to the shape of the receptacle and its being inclined with respect to the horizontal, thequills entering the receptacle tend to become properly positioned with their barrel portions extending into slot 19 and adjacent shoulder portions of the quill heads bridging the slot 19 and resting upon the upper reaches of the conveyor belts 21 and 22. When a quill becomes properly positioned, it is transported upwardly within the receptacle 10 by the conveyor means. Due to the receptacle being inclined, all quills not properly positioned with respect to the conveyor means tend to remain at the lower end of the receptacle but frequently quills will become improperly aligned lengthwise of the conveyor means with one or both ends being supported by properly aligned quills and will be transported upwardly-within the conveyor. When this occurs, the leading and of the misaligned quill contacts the triangular face of member 28 or 29 and slides thereon until it becomes positioned in the groove formed by flange 34 or 35. The leading end of the misaligned quills then slides upwardly in the groove until the quill is turned over endwise toward the lower end of the trough and is thereby given .a further opportunity to become properly aligned before again being conveyed upwardly within the receptacle 10.

With a veryrapidly moving conveyonquills frequently become momentarily positioned directly atop a row of properly aligned quills so that they pass between the members 28 and 29 and if additional deflectors are not provided, are-carried to the upper end of the receptacle 10 where they are either thrown to the floor or else block the further forward movement of properly aligned quills For this reason, it is generally advantageous to provid the receptacle with the second pair of deflector members 30 and 31 which urge the proper alignment of any quills which are able to pass between the first set of deflectors.

Having thus described our invention what we desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In aquill handling and positioning mechanism having an elongated trough-shaped receptacle inclined with respect to the horizontal, said receptacle having a lengthwise slot in the bottom thereof adapted to receive the barrel portions of a plurality of quills, conveyor means located in said receptacle and adapted to engage the heads of quills having their barrel portions extending into said slot and to transport said quills in single file alignment'upwardly and lengthwise of said receptacle, improved means for retarding the upward movement of r nisalignedquills and for promoting their proper alignment comprising a pair of opposed deflector members mounted in said receptacle, each of said members having an upwardly extending V-shaped groove facing the entrance end of said receptacle, said groove being inclined to slope outwardly from the center of said receptacle at an angle of from about 5 to 35 degrees to a vertical plane extending through the longitudinal axis of said receptacle and said groove being at an angle of from about 0 to 25 degrees to a vertical plane intersecting said first named plane at right angles, whereby when one end of a misaligned quill being conveyed upwardly alongside properly aligned quills becomes positioned in said groove, the one end is moved away from the center of said receptacle and upwardly until the misaligned quill is turned over endwise toward the lower end of said receptacle.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said groove is formed by a pair of plane surfaces intersecting at approximately right angles.

3. In a quill handling and positioning mechanism comprising an elongated trough-shaped receptacle inclined with respect to the horizontal, said receptacle having a lengthwise slot in the bottom thereof adapted to receive the barrel portions of a plurality of quills, and conveyor means comprising the upper reaches of a pair of endless belts positioned in said trough adjacent opposite edges of said lengthwise slot and adapted to engage the heads of quills having their barrel portions extending into said slot and to transport said quills in single file alignment upwardly and lengthwise of said receptacle; improved means for promoting the proper alignment of misaligned quills being carried upwardly within said trough alongside properly positioned quills having their barrel portions extending into said slot, said improved means comprising opposed plates mounted within said trough and extending over the upper edges of the belt conveyor means, a pair of opposed deflector members mounted on said plates, each of said deflector members having a substantially triangular surface obliquely facing the lower end of said trough with the leading edge in each instance positioned against one of said plates and with the trailing edge extending upwardly from adjacent one edge of said slot, and each of said deflecting members, having a flange extending upwardly along the trailing edge of said triangular surface to thereby form an upwardly extending groove, w'hereby when one end of a misaligned quill being transported upwardly in said trough strikes said triangular surface, it slides into said groove and is thereby lifted upwardly to result in said misaligned quill being turned over endwise toward the lower end of said receptacle.

4. In combination with a trough-shaped receptacle having laterally downwardly and inwardly inclined sides defining a lengthwise slot between the sides and having a conveyor means disposed longitudinally of the slot, the side edges of the receptacle which define the slot being disposed at an upwardly extended angle with respect to the horizontal and in the direction of the conveyor move ,ment, the lower portion of said receptacle being the entrance end thereof, the improvement of at least one article aligning member on each of said receptacle sides, each of said aligning members having a section with a free end extending outwardly in cantilever form from its respective receptacle side toward said slot, said free end forming a trough having a substantially linear groove and whose concave side is facing the entrance end of said receptacle, said linear groove being substantially inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of said longitudinally extending slot formed in said trough-shaped receptacle.

5. The combination according to claim 4, wherein each of said aligning members has a guide surface facing the entrance end of said receptacle and inclined to form an acute angle with respect to its respective facing adjacent receptacle side surface, whereby conveyed objects contacting said acute angle facing guide surface will be deflected upwardly away from said slot and toward the wall formed by said adjacent facing inclined receptacle side surface.

6. The improvement according to claim 4 wherein said linear groove of each of said aligning members is inclined upwardly and outwardly with respect to a vertical plane extending through and along the center of said slot.

7. The improvement according to claim 6 wherein said conveyor is a pair of endless belts forming a longitudinal slot therebetween, the lower end of the linear groove of each of said concave trough-shaped aligning members being disposed vertically above and spaced from a portion of a respective one of said belts, whereby misaligned objects being conveyed by said belts will be directly moved into said linear apex groove formed by said aligning member for upward and outward reversing movement by the continued longitudinally forward movement of the lower end of said object by said conveyor until the object reaches an unstable position for outward and rearward tumbling action by said aligning member and downward and centrally directed movement by said trough receptacle inclined side walls.

8.. The improvement according to claim 4 wherein the edge of said free end of each of said aligning members extends upwardly and away from an imaginary vertical plane extending through the center of said longitudinal slot. l

9. In combination with a trough-shaped receptacle having laterally downwardly and inwardly inclined sides defining a lengthwise slot between the sides and having a conveyor means disposed longitudinally of the slot, the side edges of the receptacle which define the slot being disposed at an upwardly extending angle with respect to the horizontal and in the direction of conveyor movement, the lower end portion of said receptacle being the entrance end thereof, the improvement of at least one article aligning member on each of said receptacle sides of said aligning members extending outwardly in cantilever form from its respective receptacle side toward said slot, each of said aligning members having an object-engaging guide surface facing the entrance end of said receptacle and inclined to form an acute angle with respect to its respective facing adjacent receptacle side surface, said guide surface being substantially inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of said longitudinally extending slot formed in said trough-shaped receptacle, whereby conveyed objects contacting said acute-angle facing guide surface will be deflected upwardly away from said slot and toward the wall formed by said adjacent inclined receptacle side.

10. The improvement according to claim 9 wherein said acute-angle-inclined guide surface forms one side of a grooved trough facing the entrance end of said receptacle, said trough having a substantially linear groove formed therein which is substantially inclined with respect ot the longitudinal axis of said longitudinally extending slot formed in said trough-shaped receptacle.

11. The improvement according to claim 10 wherein said linear groove is inclined upwardly and outwardly with respect to a vertical plane extending through and along the center of said slot.

12. The improvement according to claim 11 wherein the edge of each of said aligning members adjacent said slot extends upwardly and away from an imaginary vertical plane extending through and along the center of said longitudinal slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,550,803 Harbison Aug. 25, 1925 1,944,360 Meyer Jan. 23, 1934 2,303,226 Olson Nov. 24, 1942 2,403,862 Lakso July 9, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,065,789 France May 31, 1954 

